David at Keilah

23 People told
David, “Look, the
Philistines are fighting against the city
of Keilah. They are robbing grain from the
threshing floors.* 2David asked the
Lord, “Should I go and
fight these Philistines?”
The Lord answered David, “Yes, go attack
the Philistines. Save Keilah.”
3But David’s men
said to him, “Look, we
are here in Judah and we are scared. Just think
how scared we will be if we go to where the
Philistine army is.”
4David again asked
the Lord. And the Lord
answered David, “Go down to Keilah. I will
help you defeat the Philistines.”
5So
David
and his men went to Keilah. David’s men
fought the Philistines. David’s men defeated
the Philistines and took their cattle. In this
way, David saved the people of Keilah.
6(When Abiathar ran
away to David, Abiathar
took an ephod* with him.)
7People told Saul
that David was now at
Keilah. Saul said, “God has given David to
me! David has trapped himself. He went into a
town that has gates and bars to lock the
gates.” 8Saul
called all his army together for
battle. They prepared to go down to Keilah to
attack David and his men.
9David learned that
Saul was making plans
against him. David then said to Abiathar the
priest, “Bring the ephod.”* 10David prayed,
“Lord God of Israel, I have
heard that Saul plans to come to Keilah and
destroy the town because of me.
11Will
Saul
come to Keilah? Will the people of Keilah
give me to Saul? Lord God of Israel, I am
your servant! Please tell me!”
The Lord answered, “Saul will come.”
12Again David
asked, “Will the people of
Keilah give me and my men to Saul?”
The Lord answered, “They will.”
13So David and his
men left Keilah. There
were about 600 men who went with David.
David and his men kept moving from place to
place. Saul learned that David escaped from
Keilah. So Saul did not go to that city.

Saul Chases David

14David went to the
desert and stayed in the
fortresses* there. David also went to the hill
country in the Desert of Ziph. Every day Saul
looked for David, but the Lord didn’t let Saul
catch him.
15David was at
Horesh in the Desert of
Ziph. He was afraid, because Saul was coming
to kill him. 16But
Saul’s son Jonathan went to
see David at Horesh. Jonathan helped David
to have a stronger faith in God.
17Jonathan
told David, “Don’t be afraid. My father Saul
won’t hurt you. You will become the king of
Israel. And I will be second to you. Even my
father knows this.”
18Jonathan and
David both made an
agreement before the Lord. Then Jonathan
went home. And David stayed at Horesh.

The People of Ziph Tell Saul About David

19The people from
Ziph came to Saul at
Gibeah. They told Saul, “David is hiding in
our area. He is at the fortresses* of Horesh on
Hakilah Hill, south of Jeshimon.
20Now,
King, come down any time you want. It is our
duty to give David to you.”
21Saul answered,
“The Lord bless you for
helping me. 22Go
and learn more about
David. Learn where he is staying. And learn
who has seen David there. Saul thought,
‘David is smart. He is trying to trick me.’
23Find all the
hiding places that David uses.
Then come back to me and tell me everything.
Then I’ll go with you. If David is in the area, I
will find him. I will find him even if I must
look through all the families in Judah.”
24Then those people
went back to Ziph.
Saul went there later.
David and his men were in the Desert of
Maon. They were in the desert area south of
Jeshimon. 25Saul
and his men went to look for
David. But people warned David. They told
him that Saul was looking for him. David then
went down to “The Rock” in the Desert of
Maon. Saul heard that David had gone to the
Desert of Maon. So Saul went to that place to
find David.
26Saul was on one
side of the mountain.
David and his men were on the other side of
the same mountain. David was hurrying to get
away from Saul. Saul and his soldiers were
going around the mountain to capture David
and his men.
27Then a messenger
came to Saul. The
messenger said, “Come quickly! The
Philistines are attacking us!”
28So Saul stopped
chasing David and went
to fight the Philistines. That is why people call
this place “Slippery Rock.”* 29David
left the
Desert of Maon and went to the fortresses* near En Gedi.

threshing floors Places where grain is beaten or walked on
to
remove the hulls from the grain.
ephod A special coat a man wore to show that he was a priest
or a priest’s helper. The priest wore an ephod when he went to
ask the Lord for advice.
fortress(es) A building or city with tall, strong walls for
protection.
Slippery Rock Or, “Sela Hammahlekoth.”

David Shames Saul

24 After Saul had
chased the Philistines
away, people told Saul, “David is in the
desert area near En Gedi.”
2So Saul chose
3,000 men from all over
Israel. Saul took these men and began looking
for David and his men. They looked near
Wild Goat Rocks. 3Saul
came to the sheep
pens beside the road. There was a cave near
there. Saul went into the cave to relieve
himself. David and his men were hiding far
back in the cave. 4The
men said to David,
“Today is the day the Lord talked about! The
Lord told you, ‘I will give your enemy to you,
then you can do anything you want with your
enemy.’”
So David crawled closer and closer to Saul.
Then David cut off a corner of Saul’s robe.
Saul did not see David.
5Later,
David felt bad
about cutting off a corner of Saul’s robe.
6David said to his
men, “I hope the Lord stops
me from doing anything like that to my
master again! Saul is the person the Lord
chose to be king. I should not do anything
against Saul, because he is the Lord’s chosen
king!” 7David
said these things to stop his
men. David would not let his men hurt Saul.
Saul left the cave and went his way.
8David
came out of the cave. David shouted to Saul,
“My lord the king!”
Saul looked back. David bowed with his
face to the ground.
9David
said to Saul, “Why
do you listen when people say, ‘David plans
to hurt you’? 10{I
don’t want to hurt you!} You
can see that with your own eyes! The Lord let
me have you today in the cave. But I refused
to kill you. I was merciful to you. I said, ‘I
won’t hurt my master. Saul is the Lord’s
chosen king!’ 11Look
at this piece of cloth in
my hand. I cut off the corner of your robe. I
could have killed you, but I didn’t! Now, I
want you to understand this. I want you to
know that I am not planning anything against
you! I did nothing wrong to you! But you are
hunting me and trying to kill me.
12Let
the
Lord be the judge! The Lord might punish
you for the wrong you did me. But I myself
won’t fight you. 13There
is an old saying:
‘Bad things come from bad people.’
{I haven’t done
anything bad! I am not a
bad person!} I won’t hurt you.
14Who
are you
chasing? Who is the king of Israel coming to
fight against? You are not chasing someone
who will hurt you! It is like you are chasing a
dead dog or a flea.
15Let
the Lord be the
judge. Let him decide between you and me.
The Lord will support me and show that I am
right. The Lord will save me from you.”
16David finished
speaking, and Saul asked,
“Is that your voice, David my son?” Then
Saul began to cry. Saul cried very much.
17Saul said, “You
are right, and I am wrong.
You have been good to me. But I have been
bad to you. 18You
told me about the good
things you did. The Lord brought me to you,
but you did not kill me.
19{This
shows I am
not your enemy.} A man doesn’t catch his
enemy, and then just let him go! He doesn’t
do good things for his enemy. I hope the Lord
rewards you for being good to me today.
20I
know that you will become the new king. You
will rule the kingdom of Israel.
21Now
make a
promise to me. Use the Lord’s name and
promise that you will not kill my
descendants,* even after I die. Promise me
that you will not erase my name from my
father’s family.”
22So David made a
promise to Saul. David
promised that he would not kill Saul’s family.
Then Saul went back home. David and his
men went up to the fort.